Re: debugging a kernel that just won't cooperate

[Kit Halsted <kit@kithalsted.com>]

At 3:21 PM -0500 3/24/02, Warchild wrote:
<snip>
>I applied patches 015 and 016, rebuilt the kernel just like I always have,
>copied bsd to /, and rebooted expecting to be back in business in a few
>minutes. 
>
>No such luck.  I came to my console only to see "/bsd 3698688 failed(5).
>will try bsd.old".  I booted bsd.old and started debugging.  I checked to
>make sure the patches applied properly and that there were no strange error
>messages anywhere in the compilation process.  Just as a sanity check, I
>rebuilt the kernel again but got the same error message at boot time. 
>
>So I got brave and decided to start over.  I got the latest source from CVS
>and followed the instructions word-for-word from the patch-branch how-to
>page.  Installed kernel.  Reboot.  Same deal.
>
>Either I am severely slow this weekend, or I'm just having bad luck.  I
>can compile the kernel fine, but I'll be damned it'll boot.  I checked the
>misc@ archives, but the closest I could find were some references to broken
>floppy drives when installing.
>
>Pointers/clue-sticks would be most appreciated.  dmesg of the last known
>working kernel is attached.

Hmmmmm... Do you have a single partition on your disk?

<snip dmesg, but thanks for including the whole thing>
>cpu0: Intel Pentium/MMX ("GenuineIntel" 586-class) 134 MHz
>cpu0: FPU,V86,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,MCE,CX8,MMX
<snip>
>wd0 at pciide0 channel 0 drive 0: <Maxtor 83240D3>
>wd0: 16-sector PIO, LBA, 3090MB, 6697 cyl, 15 head, 63 sec, 6329388 sectors

I'm sure someone else will whack me with the clue-by-four if I'm 
wrong, but this is looking to me like the new kernel is outside the 
bootable area of your disk. A P133 BIOS can probably see the first 
2GB of disk, but might still be stuck at 504MB. See if FAQ 14 doesn't 
help:

<http://www.openbsd.com/faq/faq14.html#LargeDrive>

If I'm right, the right way to fix it is to repartition the disk. I'm 
still a relative newcomer to the strange world of the i386 
architecture & its BIOS issues, so I may well be wrong. (Nick, please 
be gentle if I'm sending this guy on a wild goose chase.)

-Kit
-- 
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-Benjamin Franklin

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(...if you would have peace, be prepared for war)
-Flavius Vegetius Renatus